Reign capped off the first half of Supergirl’s third season, and in the process encapsulated so much of what’s good about this series right now. The series is really thriving on the strength of its new main villain at the moment. First things first – Reign may well be the best thing to happen to this series since its move from CBS to The CW. She’s definitely the best villain Supergirl has had.This episode reinforced how wise it was for the writers to spend the first half of Season 3 fleshing out Samantha as a character before diving into her corruption. The early holiday party scene reinforced how close Kara, Lena and Samantha have grown in recent months. That only added more weight to Samantha’s downfall this week. As Reign, she’s clearly a physical threat to the Girl of Steel. But more importantly, she has the deep, compelling connection to Kara that so few villains in this series have shared.I was actually starting to worry that this episode would end without a major confrontation between the two characters. There was a lot of teasing and comparatively little focus on Reign herself. Fortunately, we got that epic throwdown to cap off 2017. That fight did feel a bit formulaic in a Flash-sort of way. It seems like Barry has had to go through that moment every season where he squares off against his doppelganger speedster villain of the year and gets his butt handed to him. Now it’s Kara’s turn. Still, that battle was handled very effectively. It created a real, palpable sense of danger for Kara, while the tide shifted often enough that it was never quite apparent till the end which combatant would emerge victorious. It actually reminded me a lot of a good professional wrestling match, complete with Reign playing the heel and whacking Kara over the head with rubble while her back was turned. In short, the main conflict this week was pretty swell, and a great way to leave things hanging for the next month.

In Mon-El’s flashback, the remains of the destroyed Krypton rain down onto Daxam. During the chaos, Mon-El escorts the prince to a Kryptonian ship. When Mon-El enters the pod to start up the engine, the prince closes the hatch and stays behind leaving Mon-El to escape. After Mon-El finishes telling the team of his job as the palace guard and his recollection of how he got to Earth, he is confined to the D.E.O. headquarters. J’onn leaves to attend to personal manners. Maggie contacts Alex about a dead Syvillian. Alex and Supergirl arrive but after Supergirl isn’t any help to them, Alex and Maggie leave to gather more information.At CatCo, Kara relays the alien murder story to Snapper. Snapper then peppers her with questions which Kara doesn’t have answers to. He tells her it’s just a half-baked idea and tells her to go get more on the scoop. At the Alien Bar, J’onn meets up with M’gann asking her about how she escaped the genocide. She told him that a White Martian broke rank and rescued Green Martians, smuggling her off-world to Earth. Winn tells Alex about her alien perp, a Brevakk, and prepares to organize a strike team. Alex turns it down and calls Maggie instead. They question the Brevakk, but he fights back. They pin him down to arrest him, but armed men show up, taze them, and kidnap the alien.At the D.E.O., J’onn prepares to go after the armed men. Alex and Kara notice the extra grumpiness. J’onn tells them of M’gann and how she didn’t seem to want to psychically bond with him as Green Martians usually do. They tell J’onn to apologize and let M’gann know how he feels. Kara talks to her A.I. “mother” about her first published article. Mon-El accidentally barges in and asks about the hologram. After Alura starts to talk bad about Daxamites, Kara shuts the program off. She tells him that the hologram helps her feel less alone. Mon-El proposes that Kara could accompany him outside the D.E.O. instead of confinement but Kara refuses and leaves.Alex meets Maggie at an illegal alien fighting ring attended by National City’s elites. A woman introduces the attendees to the fighters, Quill the Brevakk and M’gann M’orzz (aka Miss Martian). The fighters battle, but M’gann uses her Martian powers to subdue Quill. Supergirl arrives and the organizer pits her against Draaga. As the fight turns against Supergirl, Alex and Maggie fire shots into the air to disperse the crowd and rescue Supergirl. At the D.E.O. infirmary, they tell J’onn of M’gann’s participation in the fight club. Meanwhile, Mon-El convinces Winn to take him into the city by letting Winn design him a superhero costume and name.Kara returns to CatCo and tells Snapper of the murder’s connection to an alien fighting ring. Snapper asks about her sources and prompts her to not to come until she brought him a source. Winn and Mon-El go partying at a bar. After a while, Winn gets wasted. Mon-El accidentally breaks someone’s arm in an arm wrestling match so they leave. J’onn confronts M’gann about her participation in the fights. M’gann defends herself saying she does it for survival, not for the money and that she has never killed anyone in the ring. J’onn retorts by saying that as the last of their kind, they should be preserving the memories of their people but she claims that she would rather forget. As J’onn leaves, she gives him the name of the ringleader, Roulette known by the real name Veronica Sinclair.Supergirl attacks Sinclair’s limo. Sinclair claims that aliens aren’t people so they don’t have any rights. She believes she is doing them a favor by giving them an opportunity to earn glory and money. Sinclair tells Supergirl that she is naive for thinking that anyone cares what happens to aliens. The next day, Kara tells them of the encounter with Sinclair and J’onn tells them that he knows of Winn and Mon-El’s escapade last night. J’onn also tells them of his encounter with M’gann and stresses that he has worked so hard to make humans trust aliens and that it can take one to undo that work. Kara tells Mon-El about how it will take time from him to adjust to his new powers and living in the world. They talk about their parents and how both of theirs were flawed people. As Kara walks out, Mon-El mentions having seen Draaga before on Warworld and that Draaga had an injury to the right leg.

J’onn apologizes to M’gann outside the Alien Bar. Roulette and her goons arrive on scene, subdue J’onn, and kidnap him. At the D.E.O., they work on finding J’onn. Kara goes to Lena Luthor for help. Lena reveals that she knows Roulette from boarding school and gives Kara the location of the next fight. At the fight, Roulette introduces the two Martians to the crowd and forces them to fight to the death. They fight and transform into Green Martian forms. M’gann manages to pin J’onn down and tells him she will do anything to survive but J’onn convinces her that she fights because she is guilty for surviving. M’gann tells Roulette that she refuses to kill J’onn. Roulette releases Draaga to fight the Martians. Alex, Maggie, and the police arrive and arrest crowdgoers. Supergirl also arrives and is able to defeat Draaga with a well-placed kick to Draaga’s right leg. Supergirl and the police go to arrest Sinslair, but she is surrounded by her alien followers. Sinclair claims that they protect her because she provides for them. Supergirl convinces the other aliens that fighting against each other distracts from fighting against people like Cadmus and Roulette who think aliens are a menace. Roulette turns to escape, but her alien followers turn on her. Maggie arrests her. Later, Maggie is forced to release Roulette due to orders from higher-ups. Alex tells Maggie she is a great cop and asks Maggie for a drink, but Maggie has plans with a date.Kara shows Snapper her full article, complete with police reports and a first person account from Supergirl. Later, Kara tells Mon-El that she had the D.E.O. release him into her custody rather than for him to remain confined. Kara agrees to help him train to be a hero to make up for her lost opportunity to raise her cousin. J’onn meets M’gann at her her apartment. M’gann apologizes for her actions. J’onn tells her that he will always be around if she needs him. After J’onn leaves, M’gann shapeshifts, revealing herself to be a White Martian.As far as the story plot itself this episode, I thought that the fight club stuff was really fun. It really added more to the whole political side of the show with aliens vs humans. That is an overall story I have really liked this season so far and I’m liking the different ways it is being played out each episode. Overall, another great episode of Supergirl. While it wasn’t at the heights and intensities of the previous few, it was a fantastic episode for a needed quiet episode.

Warner Bros have had a rocky road when it comes to their superhero characters and although the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise epitomized this character, their other attempts at films like Green Lantern and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice met with criticism. Sometimes ‘dark’ does not always work, particularly when it comes to superheroes and if you want an example at this, check out the Marvel Universe of superheroes. However for their TV series (Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow), they’ve successfully captured the spirit of these characters and the comic universe where they came from and thankfully Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El (aka Kara Davers) is also part of this success thanks to the excellent TV series Supergirl that stars Melissa Benoist as this intelligent and beautiful Kryptonian. Given that, the entire casting for Supergirl is perfect!

The series is also created by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg who are no strangers to the world of superheroes and compared to the entire DC Comics TV line-up, Supergirl is easily one of my favorite as it doesn’t try to be too dark but rather, uplifting and enjoyable.
Also joining Benoist as Supergirl is Mechad Brooks (Jimmy Olsen), David Harewood (Hank Henshaw or the ‘Martian Manhunter’ known as J’onn J’onzz), Chyler Leigh (Kara’s adopted sister Alex Danvers), Jeremy Jordan (Kara’s sidekick) and also Calista Flockhart who plays Cat Grant, the owner of CatCo Worldwide Media (think a modern version of the Daily Planet). Sure, some of the actors camp it up for the TV series but this campiness actually works well with the characters and the story and once again, continue with the light-hearted nature of the series.

Given that, there are some darker moments in the series but overall and compared to The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tommorrow, Supergirl is a much more colorful and hopeful story. The series even boasts Helen Slater (who played the original Supergirl in the 1984 movie) as Eliza Danvers as Kara’s adoptive mother plus Dean Cain as her father who played Superman in the classic 1993 TV series, Lois & Clark. This is also what I enjoy about Supergirl is all the cameos and whether that’s from film or the world of DC Comics itself, the creators really cram in quite a few people into the series, many as Easter Eggs.

Although each episode has a ‘villain’, the overarching villain is Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El who plays the evil twin sister of Kara’s mother. Having additional Kryptonians in the show does increase the jeopardy for our heroine and some of these episodes are considerably darker. Then you have billionaire Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) who is not evil perse but wants the best for the world which of course causes conflict. Once again, some great villains for Supergirl. Kara’s supporting cast include an African American Jimmy Olsen who also provides a love interest for Supergirl plus their geeky tech-head sidekick Winn Schott who together attempt to protect the fictitious National City. Then you have Kara’s sister Alex who works for the DEO (Department of Extra-Normal Operations) that is run by Hank Henshaw, an alien known as J’onn J’onzz disguised as a human in order to protect the world from alien threats. The character of Henshaw also has a great history.
Interestingly, Superman is mentioned in the series and does appear off screen. He will actually makes a full appearance in Season 2 of Supergirl but the coolest crossover in any TV series was when Grant Gustin from The Flash starred in one episode which had fanboys and fangirls gushing from the coolness factor. With 20 episodes in this collection, Supergirl does end with a cliffhanger and with a second season confirmed (moving to CW) things are looking up for the Girl of Steel.

Supergirl on Blu-ray boasts some exceptional video and audio quality that really highlights the colourful costumes, villains and heroes of this universe. For special features, we get a handful of deleted scenes plus a couple of fun documentaries about J’onn J’onzz and Supergirl. All in all, it’s a great release from Roadshow Warner.

Supergirl is a proof that superheroes don’t need to be dark and moody and this TV series captures the spirit and core of this character that thanks to its creators successfully transforms the comic into a very enjoyable, clichéd and action packed live-action series with lots of world building and character development!. An Excellent series and a must see for all DC fans.